Superman - Batman: Truth
by DAISHIGAJO
Summary: One year since Batman and Superman defeated Lex Luthor, and almost six months since Batman's new nemesis arose in Gotham, a new challenge arises that will see old and new heroes called upon, the bonds of a future league of heroes further cemented, and the greatest challenge yet emerge against the world's finest. A sequel to Superman: Bold and Batman: Brave.
1. Prologue

**PROLOGUE**

"Lois."

Lois Lane turned at the sound of the voice, her face gradually turning over her shoulder at the sound of the feminine call. Her face danced in the warm light of the Kansas sun, its golden glow falling over her features, exposing the flushed cheeks and her red stained eyes, dry streaks making their way down her face like riverbeds. Her mouth dropped open at the sight of her friend, her legs quickly taking her forward as she collapsed into her arms.

"Selina!" she screamed, head dropping against her shoulder, the other woman's head resting lightly on her own. "He's gone, Selina. He's gone!"

"I'm sorry, Lois," she replied, offering trite words but having nothing else to give. The quivering woman in her arms shivered and shook, her body spasming as a new wave of tears began to pour from her eyes, her hands clutched tightly in front of her body as she pressed against Selina Kyle. Selina hadn't had to do anything like this in, well, ever, and she could only hold tight to Lois as she shook and trembled, convulsing, the two women forming a tragic pair in the frame of the doorway that led into the Kent home.

A brief shadow neither paid attention passed in front of it, a hulking figure of a man there, dressed in suit that would cost the monthly salary of an average man. His face was locked, teeth grit against one another but hidden behind his lips, eyes passing over the scene. His breath came slowly, calmly, his hands tucked into the pockets of his jacket as he watched the wife of his best friend cradled in the arm of his own significant other.

Softly a voice spoke from just off to the man's side. "She doesn't look well," came the low voice of Martha Kent, her eyes hovering on the distant cornfields of the Kansas plains before passing over to him.

"No," he replied, not moving. "She doesn't."

"Neither do you."

Bruce Wayne turned, looking to Martha. "I'm fine, Mrs. Kent."

"You can say it, Bruce," she said, a sad smile creeping against the corner of her lips. "But you look more like your father and mother than you realize. Maybe nobody else can tell what you're going through, but I can."

He turned away, heaving out a deep breath. Over the last year, Martha Kent had turned into a surprising confidant, someone acquainted with his parents while they were alive and that he seemed unable to mask his emotions from. "He's not dead, Mrs. Kent."

"Bruce. Sometimes, there are mysteries. Sometimes there aren't. We all saw what happened."

"Did we? I'm not so sure."

Her eyes turned away, gazing back out at the sun, descending in the distance. "Jon's been out back all day, with Shelby. Guess he's handling this a lot like you."

Bruce lowered his head, footsteps shuffling away as he sighed, descending off the porch and onto the dirt path that ran around the home, out back toward the barn. Already he could see Jonathan out there, hammer striking down on loose planks against the barn wall, the family dog lying in the grass nearby. Shelby didn't move or stir, instead the faithful animal's head tucked on its paws, a curious eye watching as Bruce moved toward them. Jon, too, noticed, and he quickly set the hammer aside.

"Bruce," he said, thrusting a hand out as the multi billionaire approached. "Glad you could come out."

"Mr. Kent," he replied, stopping a few feet in front of the older man and, glancing aside a moment, finally staring him in the eyes. "Jonathan."

"Finally okay with a first name basis, are you son?"

"It seems… appropriate, after all this time."

"Agreed." He glanced aside, taking a look at the paneling on the barn. "What do you think? Sturdy looking enough? Winter's almost here and I want to make sure it can take the winds. Horses hate it when they pick up too much."

Bruce's eyes scanned the walls, picking up on minute details that would escape the average man. "You might want to take a second look at the upper paneling. It's not apparent from out here, but it's rotting. You'll want to get that replaced, too."

Jonathan's eyes shot upward, glancing at the roof of the barn. "You got a good eye, Bruce. Ever think about taking up farming?"

"When I retire, maybe."

Mr. Kent turned aside, smiling slightly. "You've got more jokes in you than people give you credit for."

"Most people just don't get my sense of humor." He paused, taking another step closer. "But we both know that's not what I'm back here for."

"Martha's got it in her head that I need to talk or some other nonsense. I don't, no more than you do."

"That's different Mr. Kent. He was your son."

Jonathan's head dipped a second before casting back up, staring at Bruce's large figure, almost as big as his own boy's, standing there against the sun. "Yeah, he was. But he was also your friend. Unless that's not worth talking about."

Bruce pulled his hands from his jacket pocket, nodding. "You're right. It is worth talking about."

For a long moment the two men stood, staring at one another across the short distance, empty air and grass between them. Shelby raised his head, staring at Bruce then over at Jonathan before raising up on his legs, tail wagging as he looked between them. The two men glanced at the dog, then back at the house. Jonathan broke first.

"Is Martha back there?"

"Yes. She's on the porch."

"And Lois?"

"With Selina."

"So you brought her. Good girl, Bruce."

"I think so."

Jonathan nodded, lowering himself slightly and patting Shelby across the head before taking trudging steps forward, moving through the grass. "Well, alright then. Maybe neither one of us wants to admit it, but maybe it would be best to talk."

Bruce nodded, following alongside Mr. Kent as they returned to the front porch. "He was the best of us, Jon."

"Yeah, he was. Superman. The world's finest." He sighed. "But to me, he was just my boy. Clark."


	2. Chapter 1: Whatever Happened

**Chapter One**

**Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?**

"_This is David Derrenson of WLEX reporting to you live from helicopter… now this is really difficult, to film but… bear with us, you can see it from here…. We're currently flying directly over Metropolis and, if you can see in the distance a glowing, star like orb… Now it was only hours ago that NASA began reporting signs of this. There were no previous disturbances in the earth's gravity or magnetic fields, but over the course of the day, incredible weather disturbances have been raging all over the planet, bringing back memories of the day that Apokolips nearly collided with the planet. Today, just as then, Superman has taken to the skies to deal with the threat… Wait, we have word that, through a joint feed from both LexCorp and Wayne Enterprises satellites, that we have a live feed from their orbital observatory…"_

* * *

"_This is Jane Landis coming of the Daily Star and what you're seeing is a live feed courtesy of LexCorp and Wayne Enterprise's sophisticated observatory system in orbit around the planet. It was only moment ago that this fiery, star like formation appeared, sweeping toward the earth. Everything we're being told says that it mimics the same radiation patterns of any typical star despite being many times smaller, and word throughout the scientific field is that, had Superman not reacted to it immediately, we would now be feeling the effect of increased radiation and of course, heat waves that would make life on the planet unbearable. Although even with these complex satellite systems we cannot see Superman at this distance, we can of course make out the small star itself, whose light is so intense that it is requiring the filtering of computers just to let us broadcast this to you at home… Wait, now something's happening… the light from the sun is increasing… I'm not sure what's going on but, from what I can tell, it seems as if the small star is increasing in intensity. What this means for Superman…"_

* * *

_Headline: Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?_

_Lois Lane_

_In what many are calling the event of the decade, Superman, beloved hero of Earth and special son of Metropolis, vanished after the miniature sun called Thanatos detonated millions of miles from the planet. Though still an incredible distance away, the effect of its size, radiation and heat were felt in every country, leading to intervention by the Man of Steel. Superman, whose biological chemistry has been linked to stellar radiation in the past, was assumed to be immune to its effects. However, within an hour of making contact with Thanatos, the star detonated with enough power to cause planetwide disaster. Electrical systems worldwide were temporarily shutdown and, in the aftermath, when most expected Superman would intervene to help reestablish the world's infrastructure, he was conspicuously absent. Now, a week since the star's eruption, many are presuming him dead, with scientists theorizing that the amount of stellar radiation he was exposed to as exceeding his capacity to absorb. _

_Since he has vanished, governments throughout the world have begun a planet wide campaign in search of him, with many suspicious of the motives and intents of these searches. Meanwhile, LexCorp and Wayne Enterprises, in conjunction with Star Laboratories and Queen Industries, have begun the most comprehensive sweep of space in mankind's history. Using relatively new breakthroughs in engine and scanning technology, these leaders in the fields of science have launched several in a line of prototype ships intended for space research. They now put those to use in the search for Superman that goes on in the stars._

_Meanwhile, a world is beginning to mourn. In the almost ten years since his appearance in Metropolis, first under the name of the Red Blue Blur, he has emerged as the leading icon of the superhero community. Others, such as Green Arrow, Batman, the Flash, Aquaman and Cyborg have all held prominent places of respect among the general population, but none have earned the sheer adulation of Superman. Already many have begun a trek to Metropolis that many are comparing to a religious pilgrimage, though others caution that claims of Superman's death, given his well known resistance to punishment, are premature._

* * *

Lex Luthor stared out from the glass windows of his tower, eyes scanning the vast distance beyond, moving from tower to tower, as if he could peer through each window and into the lives of those within. In many ways he could, if he wanted. The advanced technology that made Metropolis into the futuristic paradise that it was had come about through the advances of LexCorp's research and, in turn, he kept that technology enslaved to his own whims. Once upon a time he'd had no issue with maintaining such control over the city, even if it didn't realize that he possessed it. Over the last year, he'd come to wonder about the choice.

"He was my brother," he said quietly, eyes watching the great distance beyond, his hand flexing within the black glove he kept his right hand within. He raised it upward, eyes moving from finger to finger. "This glove. The one weapon I finally made, the one that could finally bring him down…" He smiled, spinning on his heels and turning back into his office. "And in the end, it still wasn't enough. He still wouldn't kill me, though, not even when he had every right to." His eyes went to his desk for a moment, his fingers drifting toward the half filled glass, its brown contents sitting contentedly. For a moment they drifted around its rim before clamping down on it, his arm launching it sideways with such force that it struck the floor in an explosion of fragmenting pieces, the cold blue light of the office reflecting for a moment in the cascade of glass. Growling he slammed his fists into the surface of the table, his chest rising and falling, eyes burning into the surface of the wood.

As his breath escaped him in heaving gasps, he felt a light touch on his shoulder, fingers moving along them and down the black sleeves of his coat, one softly wrapping around his hand. Warm breath settled on his neck and he closed his eyes, turning his head slightly. "Mercy."

She placed her head on his shoulder. "Your relationship with him was… complicated."

Lex's eyes flew open. "I spent the better part of the last decade making him my sworn enemy. When I finally had him, he found a way to win. Even then, he considered me his brother. Even then, he wanted us to be the same as we were back in Smallville. Like that could ever be the case."

"But Lex," she said, one arm draped over his shoulder now, hanging just beside his head. "Things did become different."

He nodded, looking ahead, to the glass doors that emptied onto the exterior hallway. The large LEXCORP logo decorated the wall outside and he could do little but shake his head. "Ten years, Mercy. Ten years to realize what a waste it had all been. Then I spent the last year like a child trying to make thing up to a parent, trying to do whatever seemed good. The financial assistance and weapon donations to Gotham. The joint ventures with Wayne Enterprises. The money I gave to Oliver to help stabilize his company." He scoffed, pulling himself up straight, Mercy's arms now entwining around his. "Like I said. A small child."

"You saved lives. Just like you saved my life, Lex, something you did a long time before you made peace with Clark. You didn't need him to do good."

"No, he just reminded me… might even say inspired me… to do better." He heaved out one, final breath, his hand patting hers. "I've lived most of my life reacting to him, either trying to become closer to him, trying to find out his secret, trying to destroy him and then, finally, trying to fix things between us. Now what do I have in this world, Mercy? A world without a Superman."

"Lex."

He shook his head. "I know," he said, turning fully to her and smiling. "Dramatics."

"I know how hard it is for you."

"Come on. There's no point lingering on it for too long. We have dinner reservations, don't we?"

"We don't have to go, you know. If you wanted, we could just go home."

"Nah, don't think I want to be there right now. It'd probably be better for me if I stayed out for a while. Alcohol has a way of helping in times like these, something my father seemed to have made a habit of indulging a bit too often."

"Well Mr. Luthor, as long as you don't end up drinking yourself into the hospital like he did, I don't think there's a problem with a drink or two."

He chuckled. "I knew there was a reason I liked you, Mercy."

* * *

Selina and Bruce sat a few inches apart from one another, both looking slightly uncomfortable. Used to tragedy and loss, they were still in entirely unfamiliar territory now. For the first time they were having to tackle the sadness of a friend, not as individuals, but as a couple. It created a whole new set of problems. Was sitting too closely inappropriate, or not? Should Bruce bother wrapping an arm around her, or was it important to make sure they presented no image of a couple, out of respect for Lois? It created an entirely different sort of tension that she was unaccustomed to dealing with and that she had no idea how to diffuse. So, she sat, her hands folded in the lap of her crossed legs, her modest dress coming down just past her knee. Bruce, too, sat almost schoolboyish, his hands also in his lap and his back rigid. Though Lois' hands covered her face, Martha nearby with an arm around her, Jonathan couldn't help but stare at the odd couple, a slight grin threatening to creep at the corner of his mouth.

"Clark was really happy for the two of you, you know," Jonathan said, motioning a hand between them. "Said he never knew what took you two so long to finally get together."

Selina brushed a few strands of loose hair from her face, forcing a smile. "Life is complicated. You don't always realize right away that something is going to work out."

"You don't need to tell me that," he said, glancing over at Lois, who was staring sidelong at Pa Kent. "Lois, you ever tell Bruce how you and Clark first got along when you arrived in Smallville?"

Lois couldn't suppress a quick burst of laughter, shaking her head. "Hate might be too strong a word. Disliked strongly, yeah. I just couldn't wait to get out of this town. It was too small, and Clark was just… I don't know, too small town. Even when I was living here, I just kept waiting for a chance to get out, to go to Metropolis. Of course I couldn't cut it at the college there, and at least I had a job waiting for me at the Raven." She paused, eyes drifting away for a moment. "Back when Lana was still around."

Martha took in a deep breath, and Bruce, noticing the sudden shift in tone, leaned forward. "Lana. Lana Lang?"

Lois nodded, sitting upward. "You know her?"

"Not too well. When I first started researching Clark she came up, and I know the two of her were… involved, at some point."

Martha laughed. "Clark was so hung up on that girl he couldn't see what was in front of him, either. But that's just the way high school love goes. The two of them knew each other since they were kids, and when high school came around, that pair kept dancing with each other. Would they get together, wouldn't they? Of course, with Clark it was complicated. Everyone here knows that."

"It's not exactly easy telling someone what people like me and Clark do. It requires a certain amount of trust." He turned aside slightly, glancing at Selina. "We had those difficulties."

Lois glanced up at the two of them, a sly grin on her face. "Oh. He didn't tell me. I knew. I mean, he did try and tell me later, but I'd figured it out a long time before that. A woman has her ways."

Selina arched an eyebrow. "You don't say." She turned her gaze over to Bruce. "Don't tell me. Was it in the kiss?"

Bruce shifted slightly. "Selina."

Lois' eyes moved between the two of them. "Actually, she's right. How'd you know that?"

Selina smirked. "Don't let Bruce fool you. Any man willing to kiss a woman while dressed in plated armor and kevlar on the top of a rooftop has a passionate side." She turned to look at the Kent family. "Of course, for all his detective work, he didn't realize that kissing me again when we were in our civilian clothes would give away his secret, although he must have figured it out pretty quickly, since he told me not long after."

Lois smiled. "Well, Clark waited until after I'd taken a trip to Africa to tell me, but I guess the only thing that matters is that he did." She shook her head, the smile spreading wider. "You should have seen the look on his face when he realized I already knew. He looked happier than I'd ever seen him." She paused, the smile slowly starting to fade as her eyes moved around the room, glimpsing images of her deceased husband peppering the counters of the living room. "I think I need a drink."

Selina nodded, pushing off the chair. "I'll come with you." The two of them moved away, walking into the depths of the houses, Bruce's eyes following the pair of them for only a moment before settling on the elder Kents once more. He sucked in a breath, settling his discomfort.

"And you two… how are you handling this?"

Martha chuckled. "As well as anyone would handle the death of a child, I suppose. We always knew that Clark was willing to die to save the people he loved. Over the last few years he'd come to see the whole world like his family, even if it didn't always trust him. You know that feeling Bruce."

He nodded. "I do."

"You didn't trust him either, for a while."

"A foreign being from another planet with the capacity to shift the world off its axis?" He smirked. "I wonder why."

"I'm glad you ended up changing your mind about him."

"I am too, Mrs. Kent… Martha," he said.

"You know, Lex was always the same way. Clark always talked about the two of you in a lot of the same ways. Wealthy, powerful men, each with incredible potential and drive. Of course, we know the direction Lex went, although he changed over the last year, after that mess on Thanksgiving Eve. He always had trouble accepting the fact that someone with superhuman abilities would be willing to use them for good. Then again, look at how he grew up. Lionel Luthor, for the longest time, was a monster. The things that happened here in Smallville, with all those people poisoned by the meteor fragments? It was two or three years before things settled down around here, and a lot of the time the problems were resolved only because Clark got involved. Lex never got to see that, though. All he saw were these superpowered people and the harm they were causing. By the time Clark came out as the Blur, the only thing Lex knew was that superpowers could be abused, used to destroy others. He never had a reason to trust the Blur, to trust Superman."

Bruce nodded. "I won't lie. My own life has taught me to keep others at arm's length. Of course, you two know that. That especially applies to a person that can shoot beams of energy from his eyes and move the mantle of the earth." He paused, looking off into empty air. "It's strange. Year after year, feat after feat… I kept waiting for him to fail. Not hoping, mind you, but waiting. I was waiting for the moment he'd crack, when he'd turn his powers on the world, use them to try and dominate us all. I was waiting for the same Superman that Lex was waiting for. Year after year, though, he kept putting himself on the line. Just as much to my surprise, he kept trying to be a friend to me. I couldn't understand it."

He motioned around, to the household. "Then, after we both agreed to the fact that we both knew who the other really was, things opened up a bit. I could understand how he had developed that sort of attitude in a household like this. The rest of us didn't get that chance, and I resented it at first. It took me years before I was willing to fully embrace him as a friend."

Martha smiled. "Until last year."

Bruce nodded. "Thanksgiving dinner, here in the Kent House. I'm not going to say it was the most comfortable day in the world for me… but I don't regret it." His eyes moved to the doorway into the kitchen, his eyes catching a sight of Selina as she poured a glass of red wine from a bottle. "It opened up other doors for me. Then again, that's always what Clark was best at, wasn't it? Setting the example."

Jonathan nodded, sucking in a deep breath. "Bruce, where are you staying tonight? Guessing you're heading back to Metropolis then back to Gotham."

"I actually have business that's going to keep me around for a few days," he replied. "Before I leave I want to get in contact with Oliver Queen, and I know he's visiting due to the funeral."

"Right, he's with Chloe, back at Lois' apartment in the city. It'll be nice of you all to be together. Good for Lois." He shook his head, eyes watering a bit. "That's what's important right now, son. Helping her through this."

Bruce nodded, acknowledging it, but behind his gaze his mind was churning away like a computer, digesting all the information of the day. "Selina and I will be around for a bit, Jon. Lois won't be alone."

* * *

Chloe Sullivan's did not drift from the window, her eyes watching as droplets of water spattered against the glass pane. Her hands were shaking, as they had been for days now, her breath short and her eyes burning from constant streams of tears. Every time, just when she'd thought she'd gained control, another flood of it had come, searing her cheeks. Ever since she'd arrived in Metropolis she'd done her best to maintain her composure, for the sake of Lois if nothing else, but she'd found it impossible. She hated herself for having let Lois go out to the farm alone, but it had been too hard to drag herself out there. Lois hadn't grown up in Smallville, hadn't spent the years around the Kent Farm that she had, driving through the town's small roads and going through high school with the Kansas boy with the wonderful smile. Chloe wasn't about to pretend to know what it was like to lose a husband, but she'd loved Clark in a way all her own. In high school it had been romantic infatuation, but over the years she'd come to love him as closely as a brother, and closer in some ways.

"Now he's gone," she said, no longer able to hold it together and tucking herself forward, eyes exploding with tears as she buried her head in her hands, her moaning quickly soaring through the air and filling the apartment. Almost as soon as she'd begun to sob, strong arms wrapped themselves around her shoulders, an athletic figure kneeling beside her at the table.

"Hey, babe," Oliver said, his hands squeezing along her frame. "I'm here."

"But he's not, Oliver!" she screamed, fingers burying into the top of her skull as they slid through strands of her hair, her face now buried in her lap. "It's been weeks now!"

"Chloe, space is a big place. We don't know what we're going to find out there. Just the distance from here to the sun is, what, ninety six million miles, right?"

She nodded. "Ninety two million, nine hundred sixty two thousand," she corrected him.

"Well, hey, at least I was close."

Even through the tears, he was able to draw a slight laugh from her. "Yeah."

"So my point is that there's plenty of searching left to do. I don't think we can give up yet."

"If we find something, Oliver, then fine… I'll be the first to scream and jump up and down… but I can't keep living day to day hoping he'll be back, that one day I'll see him coming out of the sky with that red cape of his… or even just getting a call from him on the phone… I can't just keep hoping that I'll turn around some day and find everything is back to normal."

Oliver nodded, rubbing his hands up and down her arms. "I know. I'm sorry. I wouldn't be able to do that either."

A clicking at the door caught their attention, the two of them turning about to watch as Lois entered the room, Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle just behind her. For a moment Chloe and Oliver looked surprised, but Chloe quickly got up from the chair, moving over to her cousin and embracing her. The two held tightly to one another as tears began to run down their faces. Selina glanced around, quickly spotting the kitchen and taking quick steps over, her heels clicking on the tile before the sound of liquid being poured into glasses could be heard. She quickly returned, three glasses in her hand that she set down on the coffee table, seating herself and waiting as the other two women walked over to the couch.

Oliver rubbed his hands, glancing over at Wayne. Their history was complicated, and not always entirely friendly. "Bruce. Surprised to see you, but glad you came into town. I'm sure Lois appreciates it."

He nodded, looking over at the blonde man, loosely clothed in a casual shirt and khakis. Despite similar in backgrounds in many respects, the two of them carried themselves in entirely different ways. Oliver was generally far more casual and relaxed. "Oliver. Always a pleasure. When we arrived into town, we expected to find you in Smallville, with Lois."

"Yeah well," he said, glancing downward and slightly gesturing toward his wife. "Chloe just couldn't do it. She grew up there too, you know. Hard to go back after all this time just to attend a funeral."

"It's understandable." He glanced toward the balcony of the apartment. "Care to join me outside?"

"What? Oh, yeah, of course," he replied, somewhat surprised at the invitation and following closely behind. Bruce's attitude had improved over the last year, but he was still fairly introverted and usually didn't extend niceties like this. Best to take advantage of them when they came up. "Want me to grab some drinks?"

"Not thirsty," he replied bluntly, leading the way outside, the two men emerging onto the balcony, the retractable roof overhead shielding them from the rain that was soaking the city. "How's Star City?"

"Good. Lot calmer than a year ago."

"Thanksgiving Eve."

"Yeah. Of course we didn't have to deal with anything like what you guys had going on in Gotham during the summer."

Bruce shook his head. "Say what you will about Delina Fiora, but she's managed to keep a peace within the crime families there. It won't last, but at least for now innocent lives aren't being lost."

"Yeah, we never had as big an issue with organized crime in Star City."

"True. How are Bart, Victor and Arthur?"

"Doing good. With everything settled down, we've sort of scattered to the wind. There's no Lionel or Lex Luthor to worry about, no Darkseid or Kandorians to deal with. They all went to the funeral service earlier out in Smallville, but I guess they must have left before you arrived."

"We were late. Consequence of the weather and our flight being delayed." He paused a moment, looking sidelong at Oliver. "You sure it's a good idea to scatter your group that way?"

"What do you mean?"

"You were the first one to mention the idea of forming a group. In fact, you had one going, of a sort, before Clark came out as Superman. After the incident with Lex last year, I reappraised my resistance to the notion. I may not be big on group activities, but there's a time when certain problems are larger than any one of us."

Oliver shifted, turning to Bruce. "Why are you bringing this up now? You think this is one of those times."

Bruce turned, facing Oliver as well. "I do."

Oliver ran a hand through his hair. "I just got done trying to talk my wife into sticking with the search, believing that Clark's still around. I don't think I can keep that up though. It'll kill her, and probably Lois too."

"They were closer to him than any one of us. We can't afford to scatter when the planet's strongest man is gone, especially since I don't believe he really is."

"You saw it, Bruce. We all did. There's been no sign of him for weeks now, anywhere. I mean, we can keep searching, keep those ships out there, but he'd have come back by now if he was still alive."

"Unless something's keeping him from returning, and if there's something strong enough to do that, then I have a reason to worry."

"Oliver sighed. "You sure you just don't want to accept that he's dead?"

Bruce's eyes narrowed, glaring at Oliver. "I'm going to grab that drink."

"Yeah. Okay."

Bruce turned around, walking back through the living room and into the kitchen, fetching a glass from the counter and the chilled jug of water Clark had always kept in the refrigerator. He poured a glass, enjoying it for a moment before his hand went to his wallet, flipping it open in a single motion. His finger flipped a few photos out of the way. The first, of his father and mother, one he'd kept with him since childhood, the two of them holding each other with a love and dignity he didn't see in many people. The second was a photo of Alfred, which his faithful butler had given him years before. It was of him in his younger years, as a member of the British military. Finally, he flipped the last photo into view. It was an all too typical picture, one that reminded him of the differences between the two men. In it, Bruce was seated in the apartment living room, his eyes glaring at the photographer with a quiet rage. His hands were tightly locked around the chair's armrests, his body tight and his jaw locked. On the couch just adjacent to him, Clark was smiling, that obnoxious Kansas smile he carried with him everywhere he went, an arm extended and waving to the camera.

Bruce shook his head, staring at the picture for a minute. "Clark."


End file.
